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Chapter 590: Imu Forcibly Tears Through Time Stagnation
The Ancient One replied evenly, "I am aware. You chose to ally yourselves with Thanos. Your objective is the Infinity Stones."
The Five Elders all turned their gaze toward her. Saint Nusjuro's hand settled onto the hilt of his sword. "You know our objective?"
The Ancient One gave him a passing glance. "I know a great many things."
Saint Warcury's voice was hard and cold. "Then you should also know that handing over the stone will prevent a pointless battle."
The Ancient One offered a small smile. "I have heard those words many times before. Every invader believes they are the one to bring an end to the trouble."
Imu leaned back in her chair. "Thanos intends to use the six stones to erase half of all life in the universe. You protect the Time Stone in order to stop him."
The Ancient One remained silent.
"But to me, Thanos's ambitions are irrelevant," Imu continued. "I only need to complete my mission."
Saint Saturn looked at Imu. When they entered the dungeon, the system had automatically assigned them to the Alien Overlord Faction. The quest was simple: assist Thanos in gathering the Infinity Stones, or prevent the hero faction from achieving final victory. The Five Elders had been deeply dissatisfied at first. The supreme rulers of the World Government, relegated to working for a purple-skinned alien?
But Imu had not objected. She understood perfectly well that the dungeon's rules were the ultimate authority in this game. Since the rules dictated a faction, they would utilize that faction. As for Thanos? Once the stones were acquired, the question of who was truly the master remained to be seen.
The Ancient One picked up her teacup. "You harbor powers that do not belong to this universe. Furthermore, you carry a trace of something I cannot trace back to its origin."
Imu's eyes flickered slightly.
"I cannot see your past," the Ancient One elaborated. "Nor can I see where you truly come from. You are not ordinary dimensional travelers."
The Five Elders offered no explanation. They knew the reason, of course. Blake's dungeon system operated on a plane far above the timeline of this universe. But they had no intention of explaining themselves.
Imu spoke with a cold edge. "If you cannot see it, then do not try to look."
The Ancient One did not press the issue. She truly had no concept of Blake's existence. To her understanding, these individuals hailed from an external dimension entirely completely obscured from the Time Stone's sight. That alone made them incredibly dangerous.
"I will not surrender the Time Stone," the Ancient One said, setting down her cup. "At the very least, not to accomplices of Thanos."
Saint Saturn sneered. "Then there is nothing left to discuss."
He stepped forward, his body swelling rapidly as his monstrous Gyuki Form threatened to manifest. However, in the very next instant, a glowing golden mandala materialized on the floor of the tea room. Space folded violently. Saturn stepped into empty air, his massive body plummeting instantly into the Mirror Dimension.
When he landed, he found himself standing in an inverted Kamar-Taj. The ground was above him. The sky was beneath his feet. Buildings rotated silently on their axes, and long corridors intersected at impossible angles. Looking up, Saturn saw the Ancient One standing a short distance away.
"If you wish to fight here, I will oblige you," she said.
Saturn's expression darkened. "Cheap spatial tricks."
His transformation completed. The black fur and toxic miasma of the spider-bull demon erupted outward as his eight massive legs shattered the floor tiles. The poisonous fog expanded rapidly in all directions.
The Ancient One raised a hand, and glowing golden mandalas spun to life. The toxic fog was cleanly sliced into sections and instantly teleported far away. Saturn opened his maw, spewing a blast of highly corrosive black energy. The Ancient One sidestepped the attack gracefully, thrusting her palm forward to unleash a complex spell array. The massive demon was knocked half a step back.
The impact wasn't heavy, but it was enough to infuriate him. "The Five Elders are not here to perform parlor tricks for you!"
He charged at her. The Mirror Dimension flipped violently. The ground beneath Saturn's feet suddenly hinged upward, slamming his massive form directly into a suspended wall. The Ancient One traced a delicate line in the air with her fingers. Dozens of razor-sharp spatial threads descended from all directions, pressing down on the demon. Saturn roared, igniting in black flames as he forcibly endured the cutting array. Deep gashes opened on his flesh, only to knit themselves back together almost instantly.
A flash of surprise crossed the Ancient One's eyes. "Immortality?"
Wrenching himself free from the wall, Saturn growled coldly, "On what basis did you think we ruled the world for eight hundred years?"
Back in the tea room, the other four Elders had not moved. Imu remained seated, her gaze fixed on her teacup.
"Your companion is trapped," the Ancient One's voice echoed from across the room. She was still sitting in her original chair. The entity fighting Saturn in the Mirror Dimension was a magical projection of her combat form.
Saint Mars's eyes narrowed dangerously. "A clone?"
"Not quite a clone," the Ancient One replied. "I merely separated the battlefields to avoid destroying the tea room."
"You certainly have a flair for the dramatic," Saint Ju Peter scoffed.
The Ancient One looked at him. "Rebuilding a tea room is quite tedious."
Saint Nusjuro silently drew his sword. A flash of blinding steel illuminated the room, and the wooden tea table was perfectly cleaved down the center.
The Ancient One raised a hand, the green light of time flowing elegantly around her fingertips. The split table seamlessly knitted itself back together in reverse, the spilled tea defying gravity as it flowed perfectly back into the cups.
Nusjuro's expression shifted. This wasn't restoration magic. It was localized time reversal.
Imu finally shifted her gaze to the Eye of Agamotto. "Impressive."
"You desire it?" the Ancient One asked, meeting her gaze.
Imu stood up. "I desire all of the Infinity Stones."
"Your ambition dwarfs even that of Thanos," the Ancient One noted.
Imu didn't deny it. "Thanos only wishes to cull half the life in the universe. I want to see if the six stones possess the power to rewrite the fundamental rules of my own world."
The Ancient One's eyes grew icy. "Then I definitely cannot allow you to have it."
Imu raised her hand. A terrifying surge of Ki cascaded from her body. This wasn't Haki, it wasn't Chakra, and it wasn't a Devil Fruit ability. It was the Dragon Ball power system she had obtained from the martial arts tournament dungeon. The sheer volume of Ki, refined and condensed over eight hundred years of life, exploded outward, instantly filling the tea room with crushing pressure.
The wooden lattice windows shattered into splinters. The walls fractured. Outside in Kamar-Taj, the disciples training in the courtyard looked up in alarm. Wong, who had been instructing several novices, immediately snapped his head toward the main hall. "Who is trying to tear down the sanctuary this time!?"
A young sorcerer whispered nervously, "The Sorcerer Supreme has guests today."
Wong's face darkened completely. "What kind of guests crack the foundation of the main hall!?"
Inside the hall, the Ancient One formed rapid hand seals, layering golden arrays in front of her to block the overwhelming tidal wave of Imu's Ki. Imu took a single step forward, and the ground caved in beneath her.
The four Five Elders simultaneously backed away. They knew exactly how terrifying Imu's current power was. Ever since she had obtained the cultivation method for "Ki", she could no longer be measured by the standards of the pirate world.
Behind the Ancient One, a rift opened in the Mirror Dimension, violently spitting out Saint Saturn. He was covered in gashes, but his wounds were already sealing shut. "That woman's spatial magic is a massive nuisance," he growled. But as soon as he spoke, he saw Imu and the Ancient One clashing, and immediately shut his mouth. Now was not the time to interject.
The Ancient One unclasped the Eye of Agamotto. The brilliant green light flared, finally revealing the Time Stone. Absolute greed flickered in Imu's eyes. It wasn't a lapse in composure; it was a completely unconcealed hunger. "You've finally brought it out."
The Ancient One pointed a single finger forward. Time froze.
Everything within the tea room solidified in place. The Five Elders froze mid-action, unable to even twitch their eyes. Saturn's regeneration locked mid-heal. Only Imu's body continued to push forward at an agonizingly slow pace. Her Ki was burning violently, using her vast, almost infinite life force to forcibly resist the temporal stagnation.
The Ancient One truly analyzed her for the first time. "You are burning your own lifespan?"
The corners of Imu's lips curled up. "If there is one thing I possess in absolute abundance, it is life."
She took another heavy step forward. A blinding energy blast violently tore a narrow fissure through the time freeze. The Five Elders instantly regained their mobility.
Saint Nusjuro immediately lunged at the Ancient One, his blade coated heavily in Armament Haki and mutated demonic aura. With a flick of her wrist, the Ancient One reversed time by half a second. Nusjuro was yanked backward to the exact spot before he had drawn his sword. His face darkened, and he lunged again. Time reversed again. Nusjuro executed three consecutive, blindingly fast strikes, and all three were forcibly reset to zero.
Saint Ju Peter couldn't hold it back any longer and cursed, "This stone is way too cheap!"
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